lever action in 44 mag?

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ruger22

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I am thinking of a compact lever 44 mag like the marlin.

http://www.marlinfirearms.com/Firearms/1894Centerfire/1894.aspx

The plan is:
Fun shooting at gongs at the range.
Possible cowboy shooting some day.
Also as a deer gun for short range stuff.

I know the 444 or 45 70 rules but the recoil would take the fun out.

Questions:
How is the recoil on such a lite gun with target loads and or good hunting loads?
Anybody tried one?
Is the marlin my best choice?
 
I had the 16" ported marlin and found it quite snappy with some loads. Most 44 pistol hollowpoints expand to easily for carbine velocity. I used a 300gr hard cast lead flat point, speers gold dot 270gr flat point and hornady's XTP.
 
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Ive got a winchester trails end model 94 .44 that i just picked up new at wholesale sports, Ive shot it a lot already and find the recoil easy and the gun very accurate, i bought it for fun plinking and the occasional 100 yard deer

HH
 
I have a Marlin '94 in .44mag. and it is one of my favourites, used it last year to take a large black bear, used heavy cast bullets, recoil is moderate. Great for big game up to 100 yds., light and easy to carry!!
 
I find factory rounds a bit "snappy", end up with a black and blue first finger. However, I find that full biff reloads are fine. I think the difference is in the powder used - the reloads are using slightly slower powder (H110) than the factory loads, more suitable for the carbine
 
I equip my Marlins with Large Loop Levers....they are expensive but worth it if recoil is a factor....the factory lever doesn't leave enough room(for my hands anyway) and its the middle finger that takes the abuse! With the large loop lever you can grip further back and avoid bruised fingers....you can also wear gloves in cold weather!! I've never had a problem with getting pinched!!
 
I've had a marlin 44 Mag for about 8 years. Mine is a beater. Looks like hell. Shoots great. I mainly use it for cowboy action shooting. The model I have is older. No safety. It has micro-groove rifling.

If you try to shoot a lead bullet at factory velocities the bullet will most likely strip the rifling. A harder bullet with a gas check may be ok but at that point I would just load a jacketed bullet.

I have used this gun for cowboy shooting for three years now. My gun only holds 9 shots. Some are said to hold 10. For CAS you realy want a gun to hold 10. I will be extending the tube this winter to hold 10 shots.

I know two others that are shooting the Marlin for CAS. One has a gun just like mine. The other has a Cowboy model. Deeper rifling designed for lead (although at cowboy velocities I have had no problem with micro-groove). He also had a gunsmith smooth out the action. Feels much nicer than mine.

Cheap to shoot and fun.
 
I would say a another option would be a Winchester 94 Trapper. Very fun and would cover your three uses. Now if you just want to shoot at the gong and also hunt I would highly recommend the Ruger 96/44 lever. Beatiful gun to shoot, short action, light. I own one and use it deer hunting.
 
I have a Marlin 1894 in .44 mag and it is a joy to shoot. No significant recoil with full factory loads. My light loads for plinking or target are not even felt. I find it to be a very accurate little carbine and was bought so that it could be used for cowboy action (same calibre as my Ruger Super Blackhawks).

I have never tried it for deer, too many other option in the safe, but under 100 yards, it would have very good stopping power.
 
I've been using my .44 Magnum Marlin M1894S in Cowboy Action shooting for about 8 years now. I am a high volume shooter and the first part that I broke occured at about 8,000 rds. It was the rear portion of the firing pin and took about 20 minutes to replace once I got the part and cost less than $20.00.
At 50 yds my Marlin produces 3/4" groups with my chosen Cowboy load. One Hundred yds is the best you can ask out of a .44 mag.

Prior to the Marlin, I had one of those crappy Winchester Wranglers in .44 mag. Parts broke frequently, replacement parts were difficult to get from Winchester (send it to our warranty center, you'll have the gun back in 8 months). After 2,000 rds I dumped the POS. Got for a Marlin and you won't be dissappointed. Plus the plain jane model works good, its not worth spending an extra $300.00 to add the word "Cowboy" to the rifle.

ftkuskaugust2005107adi7.jpg
 
I do not think the Ruger 96/44 lever would be allowed for cowboy action.
But nice gun I am sure.

I still would like to be clear on this but from the nice photo, thanks G., it seems the trigger does not move with the lever. The photo shows a guy that knows what he is doing. With the exagerated finger positions to advoid the pinch.
 
blue finger

I've got a '94 in 44, and use it at our range for everything from cowboy (44spl), to practical rifle and 'safari' shoots (full house), and haven't really seen that the recoil is anything terribly bad.

For the last year I've been shooting about 100 rounds a week, (about 20% with the marlin) in IPSC-style long-gun matches, and they're loads of fun. Even with that much regular shooting, I've never gotten pinched from cycling or bruised my finger from recoil. Keep in mind that this is mostly using it on the move, with rapid cycles in a timed course of fire - if you're going to have a problem with getting bruised, this is where you'd see it.

I'm relatively thin (but not small hands), and I have no trouble with the size of the lever, but if you have thick fingers, you might want to oversize the lever.

I find the marlins levers to be incredibly intuitive – and without thinking, your trigger finger moves away from the trigger, and comes back on to take a followup shot quite nicely. The throw on the marlins is nice and short, and shouldn't give you much of a problem.

I can't stress how much fun it is to take it out on a practical rifle match, and run a course that's made with the AR-15 in mind. good fun.

Green
 
I have heard that the Marlin 1894 is more durable and reliable than the Winchester 94...can anybody shed some light on this? I see 94s going for a lot cheaper than the 1894, so that could be a factor (build quality) but then again Mossberg 500s are par with 870s for less money, so...

I love my 870 because I know I am not going to hurt it...is that the same deal with lever action firearms? I'm not going to beat the living #### out of it or anything, but do they like to be treated with some force? Or if you don't go easy will it break? Any jam I've ever had from my shotgun has been me going too easy with the forend. Can anybody shed some light on this? Thanks! :)
 
I have an old 94 in 44. Greatest gun I own. Shot my deer last fall with it and a friend won our action shoot with it against all the semi autos. You see, it holds 13 rounds. It only weighs 5 1/2 lbs. and it can shoot lead bullets all day. All the anti gun freaks think it's just an old relic and that's just the was I like it.
 
Ummmm!! Is the .444 marlin bullet dia. same as .44 rem mag.? I wonder if you could get hold of some of the Hornady Leverevolution (or what ever its called) .444 bullets and load them in .44 rem mag. cases.

Robin down under
 
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